Sevilla's cup defeat against second division B side Racing Santander worked out to be very costly as, not only did they lose M'Bia to a straight red for giving away a penalty, they will also be without Diogo Figueras for the next four league games after he seriously insulted referee González González at the end of the game. Bans are usually served out in the same competition (in M'Bia's case therefore next season), but where the suspension is for four or more matches, this is extended to all domestic competitions. Three more red cards as well in the midweek games, Valladolid's Javi Guerra starting as a hero when he opened the scoring at Rayo, but then transforming to villain after he was sent off for a retaliatory kick at Gálvez early in the second half. Celta's Hugo Mallo was also given his marching orders for a second bookable offence at Athletic Bilbao, and Recreativo's Alvaro Vega also had to take the long walk for the same reason at Levante.

Four more red cards at the weekend, Sevilla's Cala moving to the top of our rankings after picking up his second of the season for giving away a late penalty on Villarreal's Jaume Costa. Luckily for him the Andalusians had already done enough to win. Local coach Marcelino wasn't on the bench to see Perbet convert the spot kick though as he had already been sent to the stands after picking up two bookings for protesting in the first half. Levante's Juanfran García (yes, the famous hairdresser!) was also red-carded for an off-the-ball incident with Atlético's Filipe Luis near the end of their game, and although the club appealed against the sending off claiming that his opponent was play-acting, the disciplinary committee ruled that the video evidence was not clear enough to overturn the decision.

Elsewhere Elche's Damián Suárez got his marching orders after picking up a second yellow card early on in the second half of the Friday night game against Málaga, and he and the others will miss the opening game of 2014, together with nine players who picked up their fifth bookings of the season, Gabi and Raúl García (Atlético), Busquets (Barcelona), Coro (Elche), Fuentes (espanyol), Tissone (Málaga), Damià (Osasuna) and Iborra (Sevilla). Curiously Gabi, Raúl García and Busquets will all therefore be available for the week 19 clash between leaders Atlético and Barça, although far be it for us to suggest that any of them picked up their bookings deliberately! That would be cheating!!! (24.12.13)

(* suspension pending disciplinary meeting decision)

Villains Yellow cards Red cards (straight) Games banned Total points
Cala (Sevilla) 9 2 (1) 3* 15
Víctor Sánchez (Espanyol) 9 2 3* 14
Filipe Luis (Atlético) 7 2 (1) 3 13
M'Bia (Sevilla) 7 2 (1) 3* 13
Gálvez (Rayo Vallecano) 9 1 2 12
Diogo Figueiras (Sevilla) 5 1 (1) 4* 11
Saúl (Rayo Vallecano) 8 1 2 11
Ebert (Valladolid) 8 1 2 11
Botía (Elche) 10 0 1 11
Christian (Almería) 5 2 (1) 2 10
Hugo Mallo (Celta) 7 1 2* 10
Damià (Osasuna) 5 1 (1) 2* 9
Coke (Sevilla) 5 1 (1) 2* 9
Jesús Gámez (Málaga) 8 0 1 9
Cejudo (Osasuna) 4 1 3 8
Jonas (Valencia) 4 1 3 8
Arda Turan (Atlético) 4 1 (1) 2 8
Damián Suárez (Elche) 6 1 1* 8
Carlos Sánchez (Elche) 6 1 1 8
Iturra (Granada) 6 1 1 8
Silva (Osasuna) 6 1 1 8
Busquets (Barcelona) 7 0 1 8
Rafinha (Celta) 7 0 1 8
Borja (Getafe) 7 0 1 8
Ramos (Real Madrid) 7 0 1 8
Jaume Costa (Villarreal) 7 0 1 8